


This is for Real

by klaiths



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Enjoy!, Happy Birthday Lance!, M/M, Oneshot, and tells lance how cute he is and gross sappy shit like that, july 28, keith has temporary amnesia, not enough to even matter, there's only a slight bit of angst, wrote this in honor of Lance's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 05:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11640174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaiths/pseuds/klaiths
Summary: It's Lance's birthday and all he wants to do is spend the day with his new found family. When a mission throws a wrench in his plans, will he be able to have the birthday he hoped for? (Of course he will! He'll just have to deal with a doped up sappy boyfriend for a bit first.)I had to write a special hbd fic for one of my fav boys!





	This is for Real

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second VLD fic on here. I love these characters so much that I felt like I had to do something for my main boy Lance on his birthday. Title of the fic from motion City Soundtrack's "This is for Real."
> 
> Comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!

Lance wasn’t to happy to be on a mission, _today_ of all days, but the siren call of saving the universe was an unrelenting force. All in all, the mission was pretty easy, with Shiro back they were forming Voltron more efficiently than ever. Pidge and Hunk had done some major upgrades and now all the lions had cloaking capabilities. After being a pilot for a small amount of time, Allura went back to the castle stronger than ever and integrated her quintessence magic into castle defense seamlessly. And Keith. There was always Keith.

 

The nature of Keith and Lance’s relationship changed after Shiro got back. With Keith in charge and Lance as his number two, they had grown closer together. Keith struggled in the beginning, not knowing how to deal with leadership being thrust upon him, but once Lance sat him down and let him know that he was there, that the _whole team_ was there, for him, things settled into place.

 

Keith claimed that if Lance was going to be his number two, he needed to get better at hand to hand combat, and the two could often be found sparring together. Lance also taught Keith how to do yoga and meditate to help him with his impulsive behavior. (“Keith, if you’re going to be the head of Voltron, you need to be a level-head not a hot-head.) It’s true Keith became the head of Voltron, but Lance was certainly the brains.

 

Late at night, they often sparred, went over strategies, or just hung out together in the common room talking about nothing and everything. It was one of those nights that the two first approached the subject of their relationship. Lance, of course, had been complaining to Hunk about Keith for years. Hunk knew all about Lance’s huge crush on Keith before he even knew of it himself.

 

They were tangled together as they laid on the couch. Lance had one arm around Keith and Keith rested his head on Lance’s shoulder. They were watching one of the movies Pidge had had on her laptop and put onto a tablet for all to enjoy. It was some dumb space movie that really couldn’t approach the reality they were living in. Keith turned his face to peer up at Lance from his position.

 

“Hey, Lance,” he said, sitting up as he spoke, “can we talk?”

 

Lance clicked the tablet off and sat up as well as he said, “Sure, bud. What’s up?” His arm was now wrapped around Keith’s waist instead of his shoulder. He moved it so he could lightly squeeze Keith’s side in encouragement.  Keith looked up at him again, eyes holding a heavy sense of sadness.

 

He took a shaky breath before he spoke, “I want to- to talk about, uh, us.” By the time he had finished his short interjection he had looked away from Lance and fidgeted with his hands in his lap.

 

Lance grabbed Keith’s hands in his own and lightly squeezed to get him to meet his eyes again. “Okay. What about us?” Keith looked into his eyes and appeared to be on the verge of tears. He took a deep sigh before speaking.

 

“Well, my feelings for you are no secret,” he started. Lance’s stomach flipped and he squeezed Keith’s hands, probably slightly too hard. “But,” Keith tried, cutting himself off to take another shaky breath. He looked down again and Lance felt a tear land onto their clasped hands.

 

“But?” Lance prompted, removing one hand to tilt Keith’s face up to meet him.

 

“I just,” Keith sighed again, several tears now falling from his eyes, “I just can’t, right now. There’s too much going on and I need you here as my second, my friend, not my boyfriend.” Lance felt like someone had shot through his heart. He had known this was coming, they had been dancing around for a while, but to hear it finally out in the open broke something inside of him. Keith’s stray tears had evolved into something more solid, a continuous stream slipping down his now red cheeks.

 

“I know,” Lance said, running his thumb along Keith’s cheekbone. “I know,” he repeated. He pulled Keith into a hug and Keith buried his face into Lance’s shoulder. This is one of the things Lance hated the most about being a defender of the universe. He hated putting the needs of the many above his own needs. He couldn’t go see his family, he couldn’t be his normal flirtatious self, he couldn’t be with the boy that had invaded his heart.

 

Keith sniffled into Lance’s shoulder and said, “This isn’t forever.”

 

“I know.”

 

“We’re going to find him, and then we can reevaluate, okay?”

 

“Okay.” Their movie night ended soon after that, Keith pardoning himself to go to the bathroom to clean up for the night. After that, they both had reservations about being as close as they previously were. The casual intimacy they had shared had to be dialed back from an 11 to a 5. They still spent time together while training or strategy planning, but didn’t seek each other out as much during their down time. It was a rough month.

 

Of course, that changed when Shiro returned, bringing Matt with him. As soon as the pod had landed aboard the ship, all of the team had rushed down to greet them. Keith flung his arms around Shiro and held him tight for a moment. After their hug, the rest of the team had their own reunions with Shiro and everyone headed to the common room to decompress. While Lance was on his way out, Keith grabbed his sleeve and held him back.

 

“Can we talk?” He asked, shyly looking up at Lance through his bangs.

 

“Sure,” Lance replied, heart hammering in his chest. The last time they had talked, _really_ talked, Keith had said he couldn’t be with Lance, Lance didn’t really want to hear if Keith’s feelings have changed.

 

“So,” started Keith, coughing awkwardly, “Shiro’s back.”

 

Lance smiled, gently grabbing Keith’s hand as he responded, “Yup.”

 

“And last time we talked, we said that, uh, we would wait for Shiro to be back?” Keith said, sounding more like a question than a statement of fact.

 

“That we did,” Lance said, smirking at Keith’s reddening face.

 

“Well, you see,” Keith said, taking a deep breath before starting to rush through the rest of his sentence, “I really like you and-” That was all Lance needed to brush Keith’s bangs out of his face and cut him off with a kiss. It was a chaste kiss, more or a peck really, but it did the trick in stopping Keith.

 

“I’m going to tell you a secret,” Lance said, moving to whisper in Keith’s ear, “I really like you too.” When he pulled back, he was met with the brilliant smile that adorned Keith’s face. He couldn’t help himself when he leaned back in to kiss him. Keith met him halfway, still smiling much too wide for a proper kiss. It was only a few moments before they pulled away from each other.

 

“The others are waiting,” Lance said, not taking his eyes off of Keith’s for a moment.

 

Keith only said, “Yeah,” before leaning up to capture Lance’s lips once again. This time, neither of them were smiling. Their noses bumped as their faces met at an awkward angle, but Lance persisted. He wove his fingers into Keith’s hair and tilted his head to get a better angle. Keith reciprocated the motion and soon the kiss heated up much past the simple pecks they had shared earlier.

 

It wasn’t until Pidge’s voice crackled over the hanger speaker saying, “Get your asses in gear and come meet my brother!” that the pulled apart and went to meet up with the others. That was several months ago, and since then Keith and Lance had become inseparable. Pidge often referred to them as the “wonder twins” whenever they were caught causing mischief together.

 

Lance was happy. He was with his family, not his blood family but his extended understanding of it, he got to flirt with his adorable boyfriend on a daily basis, and he was  slowly but surely falling for the boy who had stolen his heart. He just wasn’t happy to be going on a mission on his birthday.

 

In the mission briefing, Allura had looked pained and apologize to Lance several times about ruining his birthday. Lance took it in stride and said, “Not to worry princess, I’ll still have tonight to celebrate,” before he turned as sent his signature wink and finger guns to Keith. Even after months of dating, Lance loved to see Keith’s flustered blush that he sported anytime Lance flirted with him.

 

The mission was simple. They formed voltron and took out a fleet that had been approaching an unarmed and non-galra controlled planet. Voltron made quick work of the fleet and disbanded to fly back to the lions.

 

“Just in time to get the cake in the oven!” Hunk shouted excitedly over the comms. The others chatted excitedly about the rest of the birthday plans for Lance on their way back to the castle when suddenly there was an explosion nearby. It knocked the lions apart for a moment, but appeared to be just a leftover explosive the galra had left behind. They all continued their flight back to the lion, but Keith wasn’t speaking.

 

“Keith,” Lance called over the comms, “answer me, babe. What’s going on?” The red lion had been the closest to the explosion and had been sent the farthest. Keith wasn’t speaking but Red was still headed for the castle, so Lance assumed he was at least conscious. Lance was up and out of his chair before Blue even touched down in the hangar. He was out her mouth, jumping over her bottom jaw not waiting for the ramp to extend.  

 

He stalked over to Red and didn’t even have to ask to be let in. There were some perks about having flown her before, and getting inside faster to his possibly injured boyfriend was one of them. When he got to the cockpit, he saw Keith had been thrown out of his chair without his helmet on. Lance rushed over to him and shook his shoulders frantically.

 

“Keith, Keith, babe, c’mon, wake up.” Keith only groaned in response but didn’t regain full consciousness.

 

“Guys, Keith’s hurt. I found him in the cockpit on the floor without a helmet on. Get Coran to meet me in the medbay!” Lance shouted over the comms in his helmet. He scooped Keith up in his arms and slowly made his way out of Red, careful not to jostle Keith too much. The others were already waiting in the medbay when he arrived and parted their group so Lance could set Keith down on the bed. Coran quickly got to work, scanning Keith body and head with his medical tablet.

 

“Well, it appears he has no external damage but does seem to have quite a large lump on his head. We’ll have to see how he feels when he waked up to see if he has any severe brain injury. I’ll give him a slight sedative that should help with the pain for when he wakes up.” Coran said, showing off the scans he took to the rest of the group and quickly injecting Keith with a syringe he had prepared.

 

“Thanks, Coran,” Lance said, moving to sit next to Keith on the bed. He sat down by Keith’s feet and began moving pieces of Keith’s armor.

 

“I’m going to work on the cake,” Hunk said, resting a hand on Lance’s shoulder, “you okay here?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance replied, leaning into Hunk’s hand for a moment, “I’m good.” Hunk gave his shoulder a squeeze before letting go and leaving the medbay. The rest of the team did much of the same and left Lance alone with Keith.

 

“Let me know if anything changes,” Coran said, “or if you need a break to go change out of your armor.”

 

“I’m fine for now, thanks, Coran.” With that, Lance was left alone with Keith. Lance let out a big sigh before continuing to remove first Keith’s armor plating and then his own. they were left in their paladin suits, which were surprisingly comfortable when worn just on their own. Lance propped the bed up so Keith was in a half sitting position then gently shifted Keith over and laid down next to him.

 

“Happy birthday to me,” he said to himself before resting his head on Keith’s shoulder and closing his eyes. He didn’t remember falling asleep, lulled by the movement of Keith’s shoulder with each breath he took, but an unknown amount of time had past when he felt Keith shift next to him. Lance sat up more in the bed and angled himself so he was facing Keith more directly. Keith groaned and brought his hands to his face to rub at his eyes.

 

“Hey, babe,” Lance said, pulling Keith’s hands away from his face and into his own, “can you open your eyes for me?”

 

Keith slowly opened his eyes and squinted before rapidly blinking them. “Uh, who are you?” He asked, clearly not fully there cognitively.

 

“Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance,” he paused, the confusion still present all over Keith’s face, “your boyfriend? Ring any bells?” Keith eyes widened at the word boyfriend and his mouth opened slightly, looking as if he had just met his celebrity crush for the first time.

 

Lance reached over and pushed the comms button on the wall next to the bed, “Coran, Keith’s awake but we have a slight problem- he doesn’t know who I am!”

 

“Be there ASAAP my boy!”

 

“ASAAP?” Lance asked as he looked over at Keith, catching the other boy’s eyes still widely blown.

 

“As soon as alteanly possible, my boy!”

 

“Just get down here!” Lance said, letting go of the button and returning his full attention to Keith.

 

“Who’s Coran?” Keith asked, looking around the room as if Coran was going to pop out of the medical supply cabinet.

 

“Uhh, he’ll be here is a sec,” Lance said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

 

 _Why doesn’t he remember me?_ Lance thought to himself, _It’s my birthday and my boyfriend doesn’t remember me!_

 

“It’s your birthday?” Keith asked, looking up at Lance again, “Happy Birthday!”

 

“Heh, yeah, thanks ba- uh, bud,” Lance stopped himself before calling Keith a pet name again. He didn’t want to further Keith’s confusion.

 

Keith’s gaze roamed his face, seeming to be taking in every detail. “So,” Keith started, “you’re really my boyfriend?”

 

Lance chuckled and grabbed one of Keith’s hands again, “Yup. Do you normally wake up next to strange boys who aren’t your boyfriend?”

 

Keith knit his brows in confusion before saying, “I don’t- I don’t remember. I don’t think so?” Lance hummed in response but didn’t push any farther.

 

_Hurry up, Coran. Come fix my boyfriend!_

 

“It’s just,” Keith sighed, “you’re _so_ gorgeous.”

 

Lance choked on air and squeaked out a, “What?!”

 

“You’re eyes are so beautiful, that color blue should be illegal. And your nose is just so perfect and tiny- and your skin looks so soft I want to touch it- and you’re freckles are so cute!”

 

“My freckles?” Lance laughed, he could feel his skin starting to burn underneath Keith’s gaze.

 

“Yes! Your freckles! I want to kiss every one of them and tell you how amazing you are and I don’t even know you! And your hair looks so soft,” Keith said, reaching out to gently rest his hand on top of Lance’s head.

 

Just then, Coran swept into the room, took sight of them, and said, “Ah, so it looks like Keith’s memory is back in place.”

 

Keith’s eyebrows drew together again as he caught sight of Coran. He turned and whispered to Lance, “He has a funny mustache,” before devolving into giggling.

 

“No,” Lance said, pushing Keith off from where he was now giggling into Lance’s shoulder, “he’s still acting all weird!”

 

“Ahh, is it just slight confusion and amnesia? Those are side effects of the sedative, they should wear off in a tick or two.” Coran said, eyes lighting up at the sight of Keith giggling.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me that before!” Lance almost yelled.

 

“It doesn't much affect Alteans, it must just be more potent for humans, or whatever Keith is.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes but let out a, “Thanks, Coran. I think I can handle it then.”

 

“As you were, my boy,” Coran shouted as he left the room. Lance peered down at Keith to where he was now slumped against the bed. He had been holding Lance’s hand in front of his face and was deftly studying each finger.

 

When Keith heard the door shut behind Coran, he sat up straight and drew his legs into a criss-cross position. Lance mimicked him and faced him the same way, smiling at his antics.

 

Keith smiled at Lance before he said, “You have big knuckles.” Lance spluttered at that and Keith continued, “But they fit really well with your slender fingers so it’s okay.” Keith picked up Lance’s hand once again and intertwined it in his own, “and it fits really well in my hand so that’s good too.” Lance absentmindedly started rubbing his thumb over Keith’s knuckles as Keith slumped back against the bed.

 

He looked at Lance with a big smile, his eyes still wide open. He closed his eyes and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Every once in awhile Keith would squeeze Lance’s hand or let out a happy sigh. One second Lance was sitting in front of Keith, holding his hand while Keith drifted off, and the next Keith was wide awake sitting up straight and grabbing Lance’s cheeks in his palms.

 

“Lance, Lance McClain,” Keith said, smile gone but eyes almost as wide as they were previously.

 

“Yep,” Lance said, “that’s me.”

 

“You’re Lance McClain, my boyfriend, the blue paladin. We’re on the castle ship where we live with the rest of our team. It’s your birthday today,” he said the last bit and then gasped, “I ruined your birthday!”

 

“Hey, no, don’t worry about it, everything’s fine. You’re good, you’re okay, that’s all that matters. It’s oka-” Lance was cut off in his ramblings by Keith’s lips which were smashed into his own. Keith wasted no time in kissing him deeply and slipping his tongue into Lance’s mouth.

 

 _Wow. Happy birthday to me!_ Lance thought, and for the first time that day it wasn’t sarcastic. He matched Keith’s enthusiasm which lead to a pretty heated make out session. It only ended when Lance went to clutch Keith’s head and accidently scraped his fingers over the lump on the back of Keith’s head causing Keith to pull away hissing.

 

“Sorry,” Lance said, gently massaging the area he had just accidentally assaulted, “What even happened out there today?”

 

Keith’s already red face seemed to turn a slight bit darker when he said, “We were in the clear so I was getting ready to get out of red as soon as we landed so I could get to you faster. I hadn’t even been able to give you a happy birthday kiss yet.”

 

Lance smiled at him and simply said, “Well, you did just give me a _hell_ of a birthday kiss, so I guess it makes up for it,” before he pecked Keith on the cheek and extracted himself from the bed.

 

“C’mon,” he said, offering Keith a hand to stand up, “if you didn’t already know, it’s a certain beloved paladin’s birthday today and there is a cake waiting in the mess hall.”

 

Keith laughed as he took Lance’s offered hand. He stood and used their clasped fingers to pull Lance in for another kiss. This kiss was chaste, a simple press of lips, reminiscent of their first kiss with all the smiling that was going on. “I can give you something just as sweet as whatever cake Hunk has cooked up.”

 

Lance’s eyes went wide as he laughed out, “That was terrible!” They both doubled over in a fit of giggles a second later. “You should really just leave the flirting to me. C’mon.” Lance dragged Keith out of the room and into the mess hall. There they were met by the rest of their team and had a great day basking in each other’s presence.

 

When it was time for the cake, Hunk told Lance to make a wish and blow out the candles. As he heard Pidge explaining the tradition to Coran and Allura, he thought about what he wanted to wish for. He knew he couldn’t see his earth family, and he had learned to be okay with protecting them from far away, he didn’t need to wish for that. He looked and saw the rest of the team in good health and happily chatting with each other. Then he laid eyes on Keith, the boy who had stolen his heart. With Keith by his side, he felt like he could take on an entire galra fleet with one swift kick. He felt amazing, loved, and cherished. He felt unstoppable. He blew out the candle.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [vldspacesqaud](vldspacesquad.tumblr.com) and [check out my other klance fic i've been working on! ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11440278/chapters/25637391)


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